Remote Learning - The Challenges and the Successes | News

May 12th 2020

The decision to fastrack to remote learning was rather thrust on us. Here we look at the journey and reflect on all that has been achieved.

Dan Cupit - Deputy Head, Academic

The decision by the government on 20^th March to close all schools and cancel external examinations in light of the Covid-19 outbreak was clearly an ‘unprecedented’ step. The closure of schools has the potential to significantly impact the education of pupils nationally, and also disrupt the ‘social aspects’ of school that so many pupils enjoy and need.

Since the very beginning, our overall aim has been to ensure that all pupils can continue with their education and to try and ensure that no pupils at King’s will be disadvantaged in the future. Many weeks before the announcement to close schools was made, we had taken significant steps to try and ensure that we could continue to provide an outstanding education to all pupils at King’s, should schools have to close. In the weeks building up to the announcement, we developed our existing infrastructure, looked at ‘Remote Learning’ taking place around the world and began training both teachers and pupils to use Microsoft Teams. The IT Team at King’s were instrumental in ensuring that all the systems were in place and that our ‘Remote Learning’ package could be delivered as we had planned. By the time the announcement to cancel qualifications and close schools came, we had a system in place that we were confident with and teachers had in many cases had the opportunity to trial delivering some lessons using the new platform.

Teaching academic lessons remotely. Teachers have worked hard to maintain contact with the pupils and extras include workout videos from the sports staff and cooking videos from the Food Tech department.

Throughout the final stages of the Easter term and the Easter break, we continued to adapt and refine our plans for ‘Remote Learning’ and how it would be delivered. A lot of time was spent monitoring developments in ‘Remote Learning’ around the world and seeing what allowed pupils to make the best progress possible. This meant that by the time final details were published to parents and pupils during the Easter holiday, we were confident we could deliver ‘Remote Learning’ as planned and in a way that would allow pupils to continue with their education and access all the support they require.

Pupils learning remotely all across the world

To date, over 2000 ‘taught’ lessons have taken place and that is before you include the hundreds of Music, Learning Support, EAL, Trinity Guildhall and MFL Speaking lessons that have been taking place to help support all pupils. I have been incredibly impressed by the level of pupil engagement and the mature approach that all pupils have shown towards their education. The engagement in lessons and the standard of work that has been received has been outstanding and nearly 1000 Commendations have been awarded already this term. Alongside this, we are seeing a number of pupils complete additional online qualifications and many explore exciting pathways for their future.

However, ‘Remote Learning’ isn’t without certain challenges and whilst we had planned for many, ‘teething issues’ do occur. Trying to deliver ‘Remote Learning’ to 320 pupils around the globe is certainly challenging, but we have worked hard to ensure that all lessons and resources are available for all pupils regardless of their ‘time zone’.

Teachers have adapted their timetables and we have some tutor meetings take place in the evening so that pupils around the world can meet with their tutor group and some lessons are taking place in the very early hours of the morning, so that pupils in China can access them. All pupils and teachers have been very good at adapting to the challenges that they have faced, whether that be with IT equipment, the internet, time zones and also managing their lives around ‘remote learning’. We have always been very conscious that new approach to ‘teaching and learning’ involves a considerable amount of ‘screen time’. However, the timetable changes that we have introduced have been well received, and pupils now have gaps in their day and afternoons away from their screens.

To give a break from screen-time, pupils are given tasks away from their devices. Chemistry teachers set up experiments for pupils to recreate and other tasks from Biology have included creating a digestive system out of items the pupils have at home.

We have clearly seen a huge increase in the reliance on technology in terms of ‘teaching and learning’ and also socialising. Whilst technical difficulties do occur, it has been brilliant to see both pupils and teachers overcome these together.

As the term progresses, it is becoming evidence that teachers are becoming more confident in the delivery of their lessons through ‘Teams’ and that pupils are also becoming more familiar with how to attend lessons, submit work and access the support that they require. I am constantly amazed by the new lesson ideas that I observe and the feedback that pupils are sending in on a daily basis. Whilst I hope we will be in a position to welcome all pupils back to King’s in the very near future, I am pleased that for now, teachers and pupils are embracing ‘Remote Learning’ and doing their very best to ensure that their education can continue.

These pictures show a BTEC Hospitality lesson, away from the screen.
Pupils were charged with correctly laying and presenting a dinner table with a Springtime theme.

Times like these reinforce just how special and strong the King’s community is. The support and understanding that has been shown by pupils, parents and teachers has been fantastic. I have no doubt that as ‘remote learning’ continues and schools open in varying capacities, there will be more challenges. However, I have absolutely no doubt that all involved will rise to the challenge, support each other and try and ensure that education can be delivered in the best way possible.

James Pearce - Director of Information Systems

Back in February, when the possibility of school closure first came to light, we needed to decide on a platform that would not only deliver remote learning but also enable all business functions of the foundation to work remotely. It needed to be reliable, accessible, and secure. We knew we did not want to utilise our on-premises infrastructure in case we were unable to attend onsite to maintain it. We wanted a product that was accessible on any device and that provided not only video conferencing but a single place to access all relevant learning materials. The answer was a product we had already started to use, Microsoft Teams.

As a Foundation, our IT strategy over the past few years, has been to progressively move to the cloud reaping the many value-added benefits, particularly for teaching and learning. Both King’s Bruton and Hazlegrove were migrated to one single instance of Office 365/Azure last October. This allowed both IT departments to work together to develop the system, with a focus on security and data protection. This, coupled with several departments having already migrated over to Teams, provided a solid foundation to implementing our remote learning strategy in a such a short time frame.

The Easter holidays were very challenging as we found ourselves reacting to new announcements. Initially we needed to ensure all the administrative functions of the School, including IT, were all able to function remotely. Then our focus switched to the remote teaching environment with the creation of hundreds of Teams for areas such as classes, tutor groups, Houses, Learning Support and Music Peripatetic lessons. These were all populated with the relevant staff and pupils, with key data migrated so it could be accessed seamlessly.

The biggest challenge by far, has been ensuring all staff and pupils are able to utilise Teams, regardless of their confidence or skill set. The key to this was to keep things simple, reducing any extra features in the early days, to avoid confusion. Even with this, on the first day of term we experienced an unprecedented increase in HelpDesk tickets, the vast majority unique to that individual and their circumstances. However, the first day of remote learning was a huge success, making the weeks of preparation and testing worthwhile.

There have been issues, frustratingly some were beyond our control, such as limited internet access or restrictions in specific countries, however, the overwhelming positive reaction from the whole school community demonstrates we made the right choice. The statistics also show it is being well used.

The graph below shows the rapid rise in the use of Teams over the last 90 days, an increase of 1400%. Across the Foundation we have seen over 3700 live class lessons undertaken, 1000 1:1 meetings, 150k messages posted, with pupils accessing from all corners of the globe.

We’ve also seen a huge rise in the use of our cloud storage.

I have two superb IT departments across our two schools and they have pulled together phenomenally in these unprecedented times, developing a single platform but configuring it for each school’s specific requirements.

At King’s Bruton, Jamie, Emma, Alex and Jacob, have excelled. They have dealt with the complexities of working remotely themselves, rapidly learning aspects of Teams they have never used, and supporting staff and pupils with their normal calm, good-humoured, assured manner.

The King's IT Team working remotely from home to support pupils and staff

I also sincerely hope that the whole school community takes a lot of pride and confidence in how they have embraced this move to remote working. No-one likes change and in “normal” times this seismic shift in the day to day workings of a school would take years of planning, trialling, implementation and training. Everyone has achieved this in a matter of weeks and when we return we can continue reaping the benefits of this digital transformation.

Ian Wilmshurst - Headmaster

Remote teaching and learning have been a challenge for all of us at King’s Bruton, but, having observed every teacher over the past weeks, I am very proud and very impressed at how all in the King’s community have risen to this challenge. Dan Cupit (Deputy Head Academic) has master-minded our remote learning processes, Alison Grant (Deputy Head) has introduced and maintained the King’s Spirit community and welfare initiative, while Will Daws (Deputy Head Sixth Form) has continued to provide individual support and guidance for all our Sixth Form pupils.

The King's Spirit is our regular email newsletter to the King's community featuring photographs and articles that pupils, parents, staff and Old Brutonians send in. Click on the picture above if you would like to read them.

Teachers have adapted their teaching methods to ensure that all lessons have been taught according to the normal timetable, while our Housemasters, Housemistresses and their relevant tutor teams, have maintained regular contact with the boys and girls in their Houses through online House Nights, House Challenges, pastoral meetings and more focused welfare meetings with individual pupils.

House Nights have been enjoyed, bringing pupils together from around the globe.

I am confident that we have given our Year 11 and Upper 6th Form pupils the best possible preparation for their centre-assessed grades, while keeping the momentum in the education of the other years. We have maintained a high quality academic education with ongoing outstanding pastoral support. March 20^th signalled the closure of the School buildings, but not the closure of education for any King’s Bruton pupil.

We have received many messages of thanks and support from our parents, with one parent commenting:

“I just wanted to say how impressed I am with King’s at this challenging time. The communication and engagement have been first rate. Across the spectrum, this pandemic highlights the good and the bad, the strengths and the weaknesses and I am so pleased to see that when King’s is put under pressure, it comes out looking stronger. Great effort from you all, please pass on my thanks to the rest of the staff.”

Life has been challenging for us all but, as Headmaster, I could not be prouder of the King’s Bruton community.

Katie - Head Girl

I believe that King's has done extremely well at still providing me with an education due to the challenges of having to learn from home. My teachers have made up so many different ways of learning and teaching that have made the process so much easier. Even though I struggled at first, remote learning has been a challenge that I have mastered. I will never enjoy the early mornings, however, there is some normality in talking on Teams, the communication with others still keeps me involved in the School, and I genuinely enjoy keeping in touch with everyone. The teachers and the IT staff have made this such an easy process and the adaptation to online learning hasn't been stressful. I am very grateful with all that they are doing and all the time that my teachers are putting in to helping everyone at King's, including the Upper 6th Form.

Seb - Head Boy

Managing to unite a school of 350 people from all corners of the globe for morning Assembly is no mean feat. It is only through the tireless work of the staff that this has been possible, and I am certain that this has not gone unappreciated by the pupils and by the parents. Despite this logistical and technological feat, the most impressive thing to come out of the Covid term, has been the fact that the pastoral care is still available to us and is still unparalleled in many respects. Tutors and Houseparent’s are only an email away. I know that many Houses have organised their own House Nights and managed to keep moral high. I know my family are always eager for the weekly Blackford House Quiz. Without each other, this would have been a much more difficult process, but instead it has showcased the best King's, its staff and its pupils have to offer.

Quotes from parents

"Just a quick note to express my appreciation for all the hard work that everyone has been putting in to make the remote learning such a success. It seems to be going from strength to strength."

"Thank you, and all your colleagues at King’s Bruton, for the warm and inspiring way you keep the Bruton family together. It‘s absolutely stunning."

"My thanks for the absolutely brilliantly organised distance learning. My son is benefitting from this immensely, and whilst he won’t be taking A-Levels, I feel it is very important that he continues to have structure to his day, and expands his knowledge. His teachers have all been fabulous, and I am incredibly grateful for the organisation, dedication, commitment and enthusiasm that has been shown by the whole school team."